The Battle of the Songs 2015-2016: Only young twice!

The time has come for my vote on Group B.
I am sorry to have personally left behind songs like "Spirit Of The Underdog" and "Catch That Plane" in my previous vote for Group A, and this time I feel the same for "Bring It All Home" and the very famous "Drink And A Smile", particularly this last one because on my first - and by now "only" - time that I have tasted the Demon Head beer, this cute Nordic guy named JT poured the beer for me and we had a toast!

But life is full of hard choices, so this is my selection of songs from Group B:

The Final Countdown - This song is the hymn, the fortune and the curse of this band, but this song is responsible for my bumping into Europe the band over 4 years ago now
Because I had decided to make one of my videos with a very powerful song as the soundtrack of it, I went to my iPod looking for inspiration and I selected TFC. But when I went into the editing software for my video, the mp4 file from iTunes was protected and couldn't be used there... so I decided to find a workaround to it. I went to youtube and I wanted to download TFC from there into a mp3 file.
But I bumped into the official video then and in the space of 1 second a riddle of thoughts came through my mind... : ohhhhhhh, wait... just wait a minute...WHO are they? Oh gosh, when did they live? Are they still alive? What are their names? And how...- please tell me HOW - has it been possible that I simply and incredibly MISSED them until now?
One second later I was "googling" very quickly on my computer and Joey Tempest name appeared and I noticed he was my age, so yes still alive , and BOOM they were still playing live!!!
Over the following 15 days I had gone through their complete production, I had booked my trip to Orebro for my first gig with one of my two daughters and without even knowing it, my life had taken a sudden and important turn! Vikings...

Ninja - A light-hearted song, sooooo powerful! One of the icons of EUROPE in the 80's! If they played it live today, I think I could cry with joy!!! - mind, I said "joy" Let me mention also that the title "Ninja" sounds so good, it is really a musical word, IMHO.

Superstitious - On the contrary this one I have heard live approximately 55 times (more or less)... Never tired of it! And I won't forget when with my three kids in 2012 we were walking the streets of Bamberg in Germany, as we were on holiday there, singing LOUD oh so LOUD this song, and everybody passing by the street was looking at us oh well, jeez, the usual italians!!!

Let The Children Play - This song is a gem. Eva Tomorrow has already pointed out that video from Sommarkrysset show. It is so nice that 2 years ago I forwarded it to my colleagues and bosses as well for whishing a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year with a message of hope for the future: "let the children play"... They all thanked me back and appreciated. This song is an incredible communicator!

Mr Government - This one too is one of those songs that created a bond with my kids, my eldest daughter can't stop singing and dancing it when she listens to it! I think this contributed a lot to improve her pronunciation and willingness to sing and then talk in English as well! It's what I call a "wordy" song, i.e. the lyrics is really packed with words...

Wake Up Call - Underestimated song from EUROPE second era, but if you think it's a masterpiece by itself!!! Well, this band contributed a LOT to my "wake up call"!

The Getaway Plan - Again I have the witty smile of my daughter in front of my eyes, with her hinting: "hey, I am the voice in your head..." , she likes this passage and I have to agree, it is so cool and fancy! Everybody should always have a getaway plan... or as we call it @work, our "plan B"...

Praise You - it comes last on my list but probably this song should be the first one, in these days. The risk with this song was that it could become some "boring" bit in their live show, please excuse me the term. It slows down the rythm and furthermore we all know very well why it could even be sort of "despised" by the female audience, Joey forgive me for this! But well, the risk was there. But the band has so grown in the INTERPRETATION of it though, that this has become an amazing and precious jewel in their show! It is the "alter ego" of Nothin' To Ya, so sensual in a completely different way. Nothin' To Ya is sexy, Praise You is a sensual song. I should say that in both there's a "guilty guitar" completing the job, that creates an incredible atmosphere. Every single word is enacted, with theatrical movements!
I have many recordings of it and as I said the band is growing the more and more in their representation of it. Anyway, as every song was born with an intent and then it embodies a different meaning for each of us, I'd like to present you my dearest video of Praise You that I filmed at the show in Niagara Falls, where those moments @3:04 and the contortion @3:46 will be forever cherished in my heart!  



I wanna thank you... let it be said! 

say WHAT???

Lyin’ eyes
The final countdown
Superstitious
Wake up call
Roll with you
The getaway plan
Bring it all home


and...


Praise you !!!!

(Because, honestly, how to resist to THIS : )



Great job, Eva Tomorrow !

And, BTW, I'm fond of this song, and how it grows from a normal theme at the beginning to an extraordinary composition at the end. Made for virtuosos !


Now, to explain a bit my other choices after "Praise you":

-Lyin’ eyes : energetic and rich,with a polished melody.
-The final countdown : dared not remove it -BTW, I've always thought it was a good song... Wonderful melody and rythm.
-Superstitious : nice, especially live.
-Wake up call : irresistibly energetic, though rather dark.
-Roll with you : like it, even if that's my last choice here.
-The getaway plan : fond of it. Nice music, and excellent lyrics with an original theme.
-Bring it all home : So beautiful balad, not really in the EUROPE traditional style, but great anyway !


Concerning the lyrics, did you noticed there's a similarity between "The getaway plan" and "Praise you" ? In the idea of "being in the head/mind" of someone else... : "I'm the voice in your head" and "I just gotta be in your mind".
That's especially obvious in Praise you, where the normal lyrics suggested by the beginning of the song would have been : "You just gonna be in my mind".
But MR Tempest reverse it, and it gives this strange assertion.
In a way, we nearly could say he likes to impel himself in someone else's brain. But, hey, that's the job of a star, isn't it ?

(By the bye, Eva Tomorrow I take the opportunity to tell you that I love,love love your new avatar picture )

Interesting point of view. Your interpretation of "the Getaway lyrics" gives me a new comprehension of the song.
Because at the contrary of you, Michaela Italy, I've never thought that this "voice in your head" could be Tempest himself - although now I see it like an evidence.
For me, until now, as it is obvious that he likes to affect a kind of "devilish personality" sometimes, Tempest was speaking of his "possession" of someone else head. Remember that he's a rock star, confronted -especially when he was young- to a real worship from some fans (some of them nearly crazy !). That gave to him a kind of supernatural power : he was the master in their mind...